


if i see you in the horizon

by telefrosted (toyhouses)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-09
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:42:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21725458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toyhouses/pseuds/telefrosted
Summary: Minseok studies merpeople.  One day, he meets one and he can't seem to forget him.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Kim Minseok | Xiumin
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25
Collections: ExOnce Upon A Time: Round II





	if i see you in the horizon

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to:   
> Thank you to the mods, who put up with my lateness! Due to unexpected events irl, I wasn't able to put a lot of time into this, so I apologize.  
> Thank you to anyone who reads and to my beta match-up, A, for being so encouraging and supportive! <3 <3 <3
> 
> A/N: This was supposed to be much, much longer, but I had to cut it way short due to time constraints. Hopefully, one day, I can finish this properly ... ;;

Almost tangible beams of light stream towards Minseok. He reaches out his fingers and opens his mouth to call out to someone, but only bubbles spill forth from his lips. The deep inner folds of his throat constrict and Minseok is horrified to find that his voice does not carry at all. He finds that he cannot breathe, water filling the very ends of his lungs and his vision slowly ebbing into blackness.

Drenched in sweat and face moist with tears, Minseok awakes from the nightmare.

It’s the same dream again, recurring with each cycle of the tide and moon. Minseok sits up on his bed - a small cot set up in the corner of his office. Every time, he's left with the feeling that someone is waiting for him, that he's letting someone down.

Standing, Minseok turns around to look at his soaked bed sheets. He’ll have to hand wash them again. Sighing, Minseok checks the clock. It’s almost four a.m., but rather than trying to fall asleep on soggy sheets, Minseok heads to the bathroom after stripping the cot’s mattress.

The bathroom is just a chemical wash stall set aside for Minseok’s own personal use. It had taken some time to get used to, but Minseok keeps it clean and more importantly, his research trumps the luxuries of a cozy home and a normal bathroom.

His hair is still wet when he goes to change into his usual lab gear, which also doubles as what he wears on the beach and in the water. Decked in his navy blue board shorts and a plain white shirt, Minseok goes to the part of the lab that doubles as his kitchen. There’s not much to eat in this dual life. Not only is it difficult to bring groceries into the research lab, Minseok simply hasn’t had the time to go shopping for fresh food regularly. After surveying a cupboard that moonlights as a pantry, he chooses the chicken broth ramen for breakfast.

Minseok slurps noodles with two scientific articles in his non-dominant hand. On low volume, the tiny portable television in the corner of his two by two kitchen table is tuned to the weather channel. The articles are print-outs generated from his laptop just last night, so it’s not too bad when a few drops of the savory soup splash onto the small black font.

“...’details on the counter-current exchange of the gills of merpeople are not fully understood’" Minseok reads. "Ha!” 

Minseok scoffs at the article while trying to swallow his mouthful of noodles.

“...the tropical storm is scheduled to hit the eastern coastline this evening. Winds traveling at a speed of…” 

It’s hard to tell on the small fuzzy television screen, but a poncho clad newscaster reports from a familiar looking cliff while Minseok tries to focus on the papers in his hand.

Minseok clicks off the distracting weather report after a few minutes and hastily wipes a few splattered drops of the broth from the edges of his papers, trying to focus again.

“‘Many researchers have speculated that chemicals from their diet help with oxygen exchange, providing essential transport proteins to the delicate micro-environment within the gills located on their necks’” Minseok reads aloud. “Hmmm…”

Minseok balances his bowl in his lap while rolling backwards in his office chair to where his laptop lies open. Tapping a few keys with one hand, Minseok consults a particular portion of his research.

“They may be onto something” Minseok mumbles between two more bites of noodles. 

The meal is getting soggy, so Minseok dumps the rest of his breakfast in the sink before rushing to the bathroom to wash up post-meal. The sun was slowly coming up now on the horizon, making the sky brighter. Along with the sky, Minseok’s step too is lighter than before. He has a good feeling about today - like he’s about to make a breakthrough.

  
  
  
  


㊌㊌㊌

“Hyung, I think we should wrap it up. Go back to shore now.” The wind tosses the graduate student’s hair across his eyes, but the salty sea air is what makes them sting.

The three of them - two students and Minseok - had come to the beach to prepare for their daily field work. Today's goal was to photograph artifacts left over from mer-habitats. Though they were all loaded up on the research boat, the weather had made a turn for the worse. Only a few meters away from the shoreline, they were at a standstill.

“It’s too early to quit, Jongdae” Minseok replies. “We’ve barely left the dock!”

“The weather report today wasn’t so promising!” Kyungsoo agrees. “We shouldn’t be out on the boat today! Especially not this evening!”

At the wheel, Minseok looks back at his two students, then back at the expanse of the sea. Undulating among the tossing waves, is a lone seagull, which Minseok points at.

Kyungsoo laughs and shakes his head, but Minseok’s gesture only gets Jongdae more excitable.

“Hyung, that bird is suicidal! I, however, am not. So please? Can’t we go back for today?”

Sighing, Minseok agrees, partly because he has always been weak to Jongdae’s whining and partly because Kyungsoo, normally the most passionate about field research, looks worried as the sky starts to turn a dark murky gray.

Spinning the captain’s wheel, Minseok grumbles something about “back in my student days…”, but once they reach shore, he helps Jongdae unload the heavier equipment. Kyungsoo secures the boat to the dock as Minseok eyes the thick rope.

“You don’t have to do it so tight” Minseok tells Kyungsoo offhandedly before he gives Jongdae instructions about developing the photos back at the lab.

Looking up from organizing the lines, Kyungsoo has a suspicious look in his eye. 

“Hyung, you aren’t thinking about-”

But Minseok is already pushing Kyungsoo towards the research lab on the top of the beach with their luggage.

“I’ll be back in a jiff” Minseok calls towards him as he deftly pushes off the dock with the boat.

“It’s dangerous manning the boat by yourself!” shouts Jongdae in a panic, trying to run back with an armload of equipment. “At least let us go with you then!”

Minseok is already a few meters off, waving and shaking his head. He pretends he can’t hear, but smiles at his two students gratefully. When they’re small in the distance, the smile fades and a more determined look replaces it on Minseok’s face.

Though he's grateful for the concern of his younger friends, what's foremost on Minseok's mind is his dream last night - the one that has repeated ever since he'd arrived to his research lab on the beach. His logical mind recoils at the thought, but something in the darker recesses of his heart tells Minseok that there’s something out there, waiting for him. As the sea tosses and turns, Minseok is careful to steer the ship without too much of breaking.

After one particularly rough swell, one of his cameras falls off of its shelf and slides across the boat’s floor.  Cursing under his breath, Minseok stays the wheel, scrambling to retrieve the expensive camera before it gets damaged. But in a split second, something small flashes in the water not too far from the boat, it’s enough of a distraction and the camera slips further. It perches precariously at the edge of the boat and Minseok watches as it plunges into the dark waters as if in slow motion.

“No!” Minseok screams, but there it is again - something glittering in the ocean water.

Frustrated from the loss of his fancy underwater camera and data, as well as annoyed at the distraction, Minseok lays down anchor. The storm has calmed a bit and though all of his common sense screams at him to wait, Minseok dives into the water without his tank. He only stops to hook a line to his belt and grab his goggles.

The water is freezing and though Minseok pauses just long enough for his wet suit to insulate, his need to retrieve his camera makes him hasty. The adrenaline pumping in his veins masks the temperature of the ocean.

'Thousands of photos and videos', Minseok thinks. If he could only just get the SD card without any water damage!  But once he’s about two meters down, something blurs and flashes in his periphery. It seems like the familiar shine from the scales of a fish, but this is much bigger than the normal aquatic life Minseok sees around these depths.

'Maybe the storm brought the larger fish to the surface', Minseok thinks briefly. But then, he sees it.

In the water, Minseok holds still, suspended in the watery medium, forgetting his original motive. It’s like the movies that Minseok always thought was so cheesy, except the sight really does take his breath away.

Not a few meters from where Minseok treads water, a single merman arches in the water with bubbles surrounding him as if floating on a foamy cloud. Minseok stays still, not wanting to scare the merman away, but itching for his camera just a few centimeters below him, slowly descending deeper. Minseok paddles his legs lightly, inching closer. Just a bit closer.

But when Minseok nears enough to see the merman’s facial expression, his heart plunges to the bottom of his chest. The merman is not only gorgeous, but he’s unconscious - eyes shut and chest barely moving. After registering this, Minseok moves on instinct. He swims as fast as he can, gripping the merman firmly across the torso. Minseok pumps his legs and arm as fast as he can and finally, Minseok breaks surface.

Cold, raw air fills Minseok’s lungs and he gasps deeply enough to elicit painful hacking. But he’s already on auto-pilot as he swims toward the direction of his boat. His eyes scan the waters for any oncoming waves in the still murky weather. And when he finally drags the merman onto the deck, Minseok falls backward, exhausted from the frantic swim.

The end of the merman’s long silvery tail still floats in the water and Minseok is tempted to keep staring at the mesmerizing shimmer. But soon, the sky clears and a fine ray of sunlight irritates Minseok’s eyes. Quickly grabbing his scuba tank, Minseok lets the merman inhale pure oxygen through the gills located on the sides of his neck. They flare to life, soaking in the much needed oxygen gas and soon, the merman’s eyelids start to flutter.

As if the storm were a figment of Minseok’s imagination, the sky clears and turns bright blue. The waters still and the sun shines on the surface of the ever moving ocean. The movement is hypnotizing and it relaxes Minseok, letting him heave a sigh of relief.

“Ah, we made it” Minseok says aloud.

Belatedly, Minseok realizes he’s been holding the merman’s hand. For some reason, he flushes, cheeks growing hot despite still being wet from the swim. Releasing the merman’s hand and gently placing it on the merman’s chest, Minseok just stares at the unmoving, yet handsome merman, still slick with the ocean water.

“Can you hear me?” Minseok asks the still unconscious merman. “Please wake up.”

Suddenly feeling the full weight of exhaustion from the rescue dive, Minseok lies down on the deck alongside the merman. Making sure the oxygen mask is pressed up against the merman’s gills, Minseok absentmindedly hums a tune, waiting for the merman to wake up. Sleep overcomes Minseok as the sun turns everything warm and his muscles beg for rest. Right before sleep takes him, Minseok registers a slight movement beside him - the merman stirring.

'What a relief' Minseok thinks to himself. “What a relief you’re alright" he murmurs aloud.

It is only for a few minutes that Minseok dozes off, but when he awakes he finds that the sun is shining down on him alone. Frantically, Minseok looks all around him, searching for the merman or even mere signs that it wasn’t all a dream.

In the end, the only thing Minseok finds is his missing camera, still wet from it’s journey in the depths of the sea. Minseok fingers the moist camera strap as he looks out into the watery expanse, wondering if he’ll ever get to meet the merman again.

㊌㊌㊌

Floating several meters out, Jongin breathes heavily. His gills flare harshly as he takes in the salty ocean water, restoring the sensitive membranes to their normal moisture level. He rubs the back of his head, where the large piece of driftwood had hit him. He hadn't meant to go up so close to the surface during the storm. But he'd been so curious about the shadow passing over his hiding den.

He watches with only his eyes peeking above the water. Jongin can't quite make out any detailed features of the human on the boat, who had pulled him out of the water. Waking up, he'd been too shocked to truly look at the human lying beside him too closely. But, this much he knows: the human's eyes are kind, holding a depth like the ocean and his voice had been like a melody, strange but oddly addicting.


End file.
